OUR TABLE IS A COMMUNITY-DRIVEN, NON-PROFIT PROJECT AIMING TO HIGHLIGHT THE NEED TO END DIRECT PROVISION IN IRELAND. OUR GOAL IS TO FACILITATE CHANGE THROUGH CONVERSATION OVER FOOD.

Our Table aims to create nurturing and empathic spaces where people can gain skills, are paid a wage and can gain knowledge of the Irish food industry. It is a non-profit, non-demoninational organisation that aims to build an awareness of food in multicultural Ireland and to highlight that the current system of Direct Provision is deeply flawed.

We at Our Table find the system abhorrent and want to help to end it. We aim to build an greater awareness of direct provision within the wider Irish public and to induce a sense of anger within them. We create spaces where information is shared and obtained, and want to open conversations with political leaders.

OUR GOALS

•To End Direct Provision in Ireland

•To provide disadvantaged migrants with an independent income and opportunities to find permanent employment

•To develop people’s existing culinary skills in a professional setting, in order to give them the confidence, support, and practical experience necessary to start their own food businesses or gain employment in others

•To reduce social isolation and foster community through collective enterprise

•To preserve and celebrate various recipes and diverse cultural heritages.

BACKGROUND

Our Table was founded by activist Ellie Kisyombe and Michelle Darmody, who met through a shared belief that a conversation needed to be started about Direct Provision, and the idea that food was a good way to get conversation started.

Ellie has been a vocal campaigner to end Direct Provision in Ireland as a volunteer with the Irish Refugee Council and spent five years living in Direct Provision. Michelle, who has a background in food and cooking, met Ellie after contacting the IRC to explore ways to use food to draw attention to the reality of Direct Provision.